Russia’s Gazprom said the audit report on the debts of Moldovagaz cannot be considered a final and reliable document of an independent financial audit. According to the company, the conclusions of the given audit cannot influence the debt somehow, especially because this is confirmed by documents signed by Gazprom and Moldovagaz and in relevant international court decisions, IPN reports.
Gazprom reminded of the November 2 meeting of the Supervisory Board of Moldovagaz, in which the audit report wasn’t approved. “Most of the members of the Supervisory Board said the report presented for examination does not represent a financial audit report compiled according to the international standards and this was clearly stated in the text of the report by the auditors. Moreover, the report doesn’t meet the requirements of an independent audit as one of its auditors is in a conflict of interest with Gazprom. The Moldovan side was informed beforehand of this, but hasn’t done anything to deal with this aspect,” the Russian company said in a press release.
In a radio program, President Maia Sandu said the decision not to approve the report was anticipated as the majority in the Supervisory Board of Moldovagaz belongs to Gazprom. “I would have been surprised if they had accepted the results of this audit. We have evidence provided by an audit conducted according to the international standards and this says that the Republic of Moldova’s debt is not US$700 million, but the debt of Moldovagaz is US$9 million. Here, we have questions to Gazprom as, I repeat, Gazprom is the majority shareholder of Moldovagaz and is responsible for eventual debts,” stated the official.
At the beginning of September, the Moldovan authorities announced that the audit showed the debt of SA Moldovagaz to Russia’s Gazprom at the end of March 2022 was US$709 million. But the largest part of this debt is either non-executable or could not be confirmed by documents. The same audit revealed that Moldovagaz can also make financial claims against Gazprom. Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov said then that Chisinau suggests paying US$8.6 million in debts to Gazprom.
